![]() I had graduated from Bon Jovi's New Jersey and Poison's "Open up and say Ah." to the grittier, more dangerous Guns N' Roses. I was coming off of the end of the glam band era. But the kids I respected at school for their music tastes loved it, so I nodded my head like I was in on it. I loved "Head Like a Hole," and liked the rest of it just o.k. It would be far cooler if I told you that I loved this record and that I could see all Trent Reznor's genius trying to burst through, but I'd be lying. So, at some point, I bought the tape and listened to it on my lengthy school bus rides in far suburban Cleveland. It didn't achieve gold status of 500,000 copies until March 1992.Īnyway, somewhere around 1991, my friends were listening to this band called "Nine Inch Nails," and I couldn't bear the thought of not being in on this. Pretty Hate Machine was released in October of 1989. It was released in September, 14 days after "Smells Like Teen Spirit," but it took three or four months for it to really explode. Even Nirvana's Nevermind which went nuclear in 1991 took a few months. It's also worth noting that in these pre-internet days almost nobody knew about debut albums until something happened and a single vaulted it into being noteworthy. I didn't own Pretty Hate Machine right away, because I was 10 and didn't know about it. It has a lot of the dance-pop sensibility, but with a taste of the 90s angst, that's coming soon to a radio station near you. Pretty Hate Machine is one of those albums that is almost a perfect blend of 80s and 90s. ![]() The idea that music just follows the 10-year decade plan is largely a creation of fans and media, but it also seems like a clean, easy way to talk about music. Tesla releases The Great Radio Controversy, and all due respect, that band is distinctly an 80s band. 10,000 Maniacs released Blind Man's Zoo in 1989, but they're definitely a 90s band when it's all said and done. Some of those late 80s bands still sound like 1984, and some sound the way 1992 ultimately would. ![]() As decades end and new ones begin, there's a grey area in music. ![]()
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